Save Me
by wldct6
Summary: Sequel to "Marry Me." It's time to plan the wedding!
1. It's Time to Start Planning

**Disclaimer: If I owned Bones, I would be writing for that, not this :)**

**A/N: Hey everyone. I'm back with the long-overdue sequel to "Marry Me." If you haven't read that one, you might want to, otherwise some of this story may or may not make sense (plus it's a good story if I do say so myself, so you'll enjoy it). This one is going to come a bit slower than the last one, with updates about once a week until about mid-May when my semester is up, then they should come faster. I've got it outlined for 12 chapters, but that's assuming I don't think of other stuff along the way. So, here it is! And as always, let me know what you think!**

* * *

"How long are you gonna keep this up?" Angela Montenegro asked her best friend, walking into Temperance Brennan's office and sitting in the chair across from her desk.

Brennan looked up from the paperwork she was doing and glanced over at her six-month old son, Tyler, sleeping in his playpen. She then looked at Angela. "How long am I going to keep what up?" she asked. Brennan knew it could be just about anything. She seemed to have a habit of doing things that annoyed Angela and not having any idea she was doing it. Rather than guess, she had learned to just ask—it saved a lot of time and trouble for all parties involved.

"You know what I'm talking about," the artist scolded.

Brennan laughed, "Honestly Ange, I don't. Just tell me and maybe I can stop whatever I'm doing."

"Enough with the being engaged already!" Angela cried out, glaring at Brennan. Angela knew that if she didn't actually drag her best friend down the aisle, she and Booth would remain engaged for the rest of their lives. She and Hodgins had finally had their dream wedding, and now it was time to force her best friend into hers.

"It's been six months," Brennan responded with mild confusion. "I proposed only six months ago. I was under the impression that engagements typically lasted a year or longer?"

"Yes, they typically last a year or longer. Because people take that long to PLAN the wedding. You don't wait a year and THEN start planning. So it's time to start planning in…oh…now would be good!"

Brennan just stared at her best friend. She knew Angela was dying to plan her wedding to Booth—probably had been from the day the two had been partnered about over a decade earlier.

"Come on, Bren. You can't stay engaged forever, you know. At some point you're supposed to actually get married!" When Brennan still didn't say anything, Angela started to get suspicious. "You do actually intend to marry Booth, right? This isn't just some ploy to get him to forget about proposing is it?"

"Angela! How could you even think that?" Brennan was insulted. She may be a lot of things, but a manipulator was not one of those. Ok, maybe it was, but for criminals, not significant others. Ok, maybe her past significant others, but never Booth. Even if she wanted to, she'd never get away with it with him—he taught her everything she knew about manipulation and would just manipulate her right back. "I fully intend to marry Booth. I wouldn't have proposed otherwise. If you'll recall, he gave me an out. He told me he'd drop the marriage subject. I'm the one that brought it right back up. I will marry him."

"Just making sure. You just don't seem to be excited about planning the wedding, that's all," Angela responded calmly.

"That's because I'm not," she explained. "You're the one who loves the wedding planning stuff. Not me. If I could just wear a casual dress and get married in the courthouse in front of a justice of the peace, I would. But I know that neither you, nor Booth, would allow that. So I'm really not excited about it."

"Well, sweetie, you better get excited, because we're planning it, starting now. Whether you like it or not," Angela finished.

"Planning what?" Booth asked, coming into the office.

"Nothing," Brennan said.

"Your wedding," Angela responded at the same time.

Booth looked from his fiancée to Angela, and decided it was probably safest to believe Angela in this case. "Our wedding?" he asked Angela, since obviously nothing else was going to come to mind at this point.

"Yes, it's been six months since you two got engaged and it's high time you start planning the actual wedding. Otherwise it'll never actually happen," she explained to Booth.

"Yeah, I suppose that's true. I mean, it can't plan itself, right? Well, Angela, you and Bones have fun with that, but do it later. Right now we have a dead body washed up in the Tidal Basin. Let's go, Bones." With that, he turned around to leave the office, hoping that Bones would follow and Angela wouldn't try to drag him into the wedding planning. He should have known better.

"Don't think you're going to leave all this to us womenfolk, Seeley Booth," Angela yelled after him. "You're going to be just as involved as your future wife!" The artist then turned to Brennan and said, "I'll watch Ty, you go and do whatever it is you do with dead bodies before you bring them here. But, know this. I will be making sure that you plan this wedding." Angela watched Brennan rush out of the office after her fiancée without giving any acknowledgement that Ange had said anything at all.

* * *

As Booth and Brennan drove to the crime scene they were quiet, each lost in their own thoughts. Brennan finally broke the silence, "Save me."

Booth turned to her, shocked and confused. "From what?"

"Angela. This is going to be a nightmare. All I want is small and simple and with her involved it'll never be that," she said, her eyes pleading with his for him to do something. Anything.

"Sorry, Bones. I would save you from just about anything, but I'm not going to save you from this, for a few reasons. First, she's right. We do need to start planning this wedding, if we're going to go through with it. We are going through with it, correct?" When she nodded her agreement, he continued, "Second, you proposed to me. I was done with the marriage thing and you pushed it. Therefore you have nobody to blame but yourself." Before she could protest he kept talking, "Third, I will help you out with the planning. You know, help picking invitations and music and flowers and stuff. Oh and cake. I'll definitely help pick out the cake."

"This is going to be a nightmare," Brennan repeated, sullenly, turning to look out her window.

"Look at it this way, once we get through this, we'll never be bothered by her again. We'll already be together, married, parents. What more could she possibly ask us for?" he said, trying to cheer her up as they arrived at the scene.

"I don't know, but now you've jinxed us. She'll come up with something for sure," Brennan muttered as she got out of the SUV, and walked towards the crowd of people.

TBC...


	2. Location, Location, Location

A/N: Yes, I'm back. This one is a little (ok a lot) longer that what I usually write but it's kind of two chapters in one--the first part being too small for one chapter.

Special thanks to CSIloverZed, crazycamera, csimesser1, and for reviews. I know before I would send individual responses to you, but until the semester ends, I just don't have the time. But I did want to thank you all. I appreciate it. Also, thanks to anyone that alerted the story. It's nice to know you're interested.

As always I own nothing but the DVDs. Without further ado...

* * *

"Here you go," Angela said, placing a brightly decorated notebook on her best friends desk at work.

Brennan looked up from her computer at Angela, then down at the notebook, then back at Angela with a confused look. "What is this supposed to be?" she questioned. She had an idea, given the amount of lace involved and the photograph of her and Booth that graced the cover, but she needed to be sure. _Angela wouldn't really hijack the wedding planning, would she?_

"It's your wedding planning book," Angela replied cheerfully. _Apparently she would_. She opened the book and flipped through the pages as she explained it to Brennan. "Here in front is a blank calendar, we can fill that in once we pick a date. Then you have sections for each item you need to think about—your outfit, bridesmaid and groomsmen outfits, the guest list, food, flowers, possible locations—"

"Are you serious?" Brennan asked, cutting her off. "Do I really need all this? I want small. A guest list no bigger than family and close friends, flowers for the bouquets and boutonnieres only. For food we could eat at a nice restaurant—"

Angela cut her best friend off, "Ok, first we'll pick the date. Then we'll worry about the rest of that stuff, ok?" Angela knew that Brennan thought she wanted a small wedding, but really—deep down—desired the fancy princess wedding every little girl dreamed of. At least that's what Angela hoped, because that was what Bren was going to get.

Brennan sighed. She really did want a small wedding. She had no need for the stress or the drama that went with large weddings. Besides, who would she invite? Both she and Booth had fairly small families. They had a few coworkers and friends that they would invite. But the guest list couldn't be more than twenty people, could it? "Why have such a big ordeal for just a few people?" She didn't realize she had spoken aloud until Angela responded.

"Because it's your wedding day, Bren. You're getting married. This only happens once, forgotten ex-husbands showing up not-withstanding. For you, a woman who swore up and down that she'd never get married, this is HUGE. I just want to make sure that it's perfect. That you enjoy it and that everyone knows that Seeley Booth is the man that stole your heart," Angela said, hoping that at least some part of her speech would sink in with her friend.

"Booth didn't steal my heart. He couldn't. It's still firmly implanted in my chest."

Of course, that would be the part she'd listen to. "I don't mean literally, sweetie. It's a metaphor for the fact that he's the one you fell in love with. He's the one man on the face of the earth that made you even consider permanently tying yourself to another person. I just want this to be perfect for the two of you. You deserve the best."

Brennan sighed. She knew when she had lost. She still wanted a small wedding, but knew that allowing Angela this task would make the artist happy. Having a big production would probably make Booth happy as well. And really, she could deal with it. It wasn't her first choice, but if Angela was planning it anyway, then it's not like Brennan would really have to worry about it. "Alright," she sighed. When Angela squealed, she continued, "I still don't want a huge wedding. Or a church wedding. Or some crazy monstrosity of a dress. But if you're planning it, then we can do the whole flower-music-catering thing."

"Good. Now first things first. When do you want this shindig to go down?"

Brennan sighed. "I'm not sure. I guess summer. But it would have to be early summer so that it's not too hot."

"Okay," Angela replied, walking around Brennan's desk to stand behind her. "Pull up your calendar on the computer," she instructed. Brennan pulled up the calendar and automatically went forward to May of the following year. "Well, you could do May 26, but that's Memorial Day weekend, so a venue might be hard to get. If you keep your options open for June 2, 9 or 16 you should be able to get one of them. And that's if you want it on a Saturday. You could probably get married on Sunday or Memorial Day Monday, as well."

"You're right. I think I'll stick with Saturdays or the Monday. Booth likes going to church on Sundays and since we're not going to have a religious ceremony, he'd probably feel guilty about missing services. So I think any Saturday from May 26 through June, or Memorial Day Monday."

Before Angela could reply, Booth walked into the office, announcing that he was ready for lunch. "So, diner, Bones?"

Angela answered before Brennan did. "She can go to the diner with you today, but tomorrow you both have somewhere else to be."

"Where?" Booth asked, wondering if he had forgotten a meeting or, worse, an anniversary of something. But then, Bones wasn't the type to celebrate any anniversary, let alone one he wouldn't think about.

"I made an appointment for you two at the Chesapeake Bay Beach Club on Kent Island. It's in Stevensville, right on the Bay, and from what Tara James, the event coordinator there, said, they have several possible locations for your wedding. I've looked at some photos on their website and I think you two will like it. You're meeting her there tomorrow at 1. Don't be late." With that, Angela rushed out of Brennan's office.

Booth and Brennan watched her leave, then Booth turned to Brennan. "How come I get the feeling she's going to be planning this wedding and we're just going to have to show up?"

"Because she is," Brennan replied, shrugging her shoulders, then grabbed her purse so they could leave for lunch.

* * *

Booth pulled into the parking lot of the Chesapeake Bay Beach Club and found a spot near the entrance. He looked around and then turned to Brennan with a smile. "So far, so good," he said.

She looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "We're in the parking lot Booth. Since I don't plan on getting married in a parking lot, I don't care what it looks like." She got out of the car and started walking toward the building, keeping her pace slow until Booth caught up.

They walked through the doors together and entered the lobby. A woman walked over to them with a smile. "Mr. Booth? Ms. Brennan? I'm Tara James. Mrs. Hodgins told me you would be by today."

"Agent Booth," he automatically corrected.

"Doctor Brennan" Bones responded at the same time.

Tara smiled wider, "Absolutely. Sorry about that. Agent Booth, Doctor Brennan, follow me and we'll start with a tour of the facilities here at the Club." The three walked through the lobby and down a hallway towards their first stop. "This is our Tavern Ballroom." They walked into a room with vaulted ceilings and lots of exposed wood. "Through that door," she continued, pointing to her left, "is a courtyard where you can have an outdoor ceremony and you'd have access to a rooftop terrace with an outdoor fireplace. You can have up to 150 guests seated in this room."

As they turned to leave the room, Brennan turned to Booth, "I'm not sure how many we plan to invite, but 150 seems a reasonable maximum to me. Did you like the room?"

"One hundred-fifty is more than enough room. I liked it, but I think if we're going to get married on the Chesapeake Bay, then we should probably be able to see it during the ceremony."

"Valid point," Brennan agreed, then turned to Tara. "Do you have any space where we could do that?"

"Absolutely," Tara responded. "Follow me, please." As they walked Tara talked about their other options. "Our most elegant venue is the Sunset Ballroom, which includes a tented rooftop terrace where you could get married outdoors overlooking the Bay. It includes indoor and outdoor fireplaces and room for 100 guests both at the ceremony upstairs and the reception inside the ballroom."

The three entered the ballroom and looked around before Brennan asked to see the rooftop terrace. They walked up the stairs and looked around. She turned to Booth with a blank face, wanting to know his reaction first. "What do you think?"

"Honestly? It's a little formal for my tastes. I want a traditional wedding, but I don't want ultra-formal, you know? What about you?" he asked, suddenly worried that Brennan had her heart set on this room.

Brennan smiled as she let out the breath she had been holding. "Good," she said with obvious relief. "I feel exactly the same way." Turning to Tara, she opened her mouth to ask if there were any other options, but Tara beat her to it.

"I think I know exactly what you're looking for. Come with me," she said, turning to walk back down the stairs. As the couple followed her, she explained what she had in mind. "We have the Beach House Ballroom. It has room for 150 guests and you can have the wedding outdoors in the garden and the reception in the ballroom, which is more casual than the Sunset Ballroom. You'll also have access to a Bridal Room for preparing, a waterfront terrace and deck area—with outdoor fireplace of course—as well as our private beach area." They walked into the ballroom and could see the adjacent gardens through the large windows of the ballroom.

Booth heard Brennan gasp next to him and knew she wanted this one. He turned to her with a smile and said, "So?"

Brennan took a deep breath and said, "Let's look at the terrace and gardens before making a decision," but she was unable to keep the grin completely off her face. The group walked out to the gardens and took in the view of the Chesapeake Bay. It was a beautiful day and the image was truly breathtaking.

Tara guided them to the side of the building and showed them the terrace. Brennan snuck a look at Booth to see his reaction, but he was already smiling at her. She smiled back and he turned to Tara and said, "Let's talk dates."

The three re-entered the main building and walked to Tara's office. When they got in, Tara pulled up the reservations calendar, "Ok, what dates were you looking at?" Brennan gave her the list of dates in order of preference. "Well, it looks like we don't have the Beach House Ballroom available for those dates, but we do have June 23 open, if you're interested?"

Booth and Brennan looked at each other and after a few seconds they both nodded. Brennan turned to Tara and smiled. "We'll take it."

* * *

On the drive back to DC, Booth was quiet and Brennan couldn't figure out why. They had the perfect venue. It was beautiful, big enough, and they actually catered, so it was one less vendor to try and track down. _What could be the problem?_ "Booth?" she finally asked. "What's wrong?"

"Five thousand dollars, Bones?" was his only response.

_Of course_, she thought, _it's the money._ "Well, I've done some research and your reception should be about forty to fifty percent of your budget and the venue rental should be about twenty percent of that. Since I was planning on spending about $45000 on the wedding, it's a little more than I was planning, but I really liked it."

"You plan on spending forty-five THOUSAND dollars on this?" Booth cried out.

"Well, it's like Ange said. I'm only getting married once. I may as well enjoy it. And I have the money, it's not like this will make much of a dent in my wealth." Booth looked a little green at the prospect of spending that much money on one day, so she continued. "And really, it's the bride's family that's supposed to pay for the wedding anyway, so I've got it covered. It's the groom's responsibility to pay for the honeymoon and the rehearsal dinner, from what I understand, so you can spend whatever you want on that. Even if the rehearsal dinner is at Sid's and our honeymoon is sending the kids to my dad's and locking ourselves in the house for a week."

Booth smiled at that. "Well, I may not be rich like you, but I think I can afford a little better than Sid's and our house."

"It doesn't matter what you spend, I love you and I'm marrying you, ok?"

"Ok," he agreed. "Still, that's a lot of money."

"But it was so pretty!" Brennan cried out in a very un-Brennan whine.

Booth smiled and said "Yes it was. Once again, Angela was completely right."

TBC...

* * *

**Another A/N: The Chesapeake Bay Beach Club does exist. I pass it every time I visit my family on the Eastern Shore (of Maryland). However, I've never been inside, so I'm going off of the website. If I described it wrong chalk it up to artistic liberties :) As always, let me know what you think!**


	3. It's All About the Dress

**A/N: As always I own nothing.**

**And thank you** **to miss jasadin, crazycamera, Starlite1, csimesser1, and perscribo for tehir wonderful reviews!!**

* * *

It was eight o'clock on a Saturday morning when Angela started knocking on her best friend's bedroom door. Luckily, her nieces were both into Saturday morning cartoons and were able to let her in the house, otherwise she'd probably still be on the porch banging on the front door. Booth and Brennan were still not responding to her knocking, so she banged on the door a little harder and said, "If you don't answer this door by the count of 5 I will come in there, whether you're decent or not." Yes, it was early, and no, she wasn't a fan of being up this early, but she and Bren had a wedding to plan and today they were going dress shopping. And if there was anything that could get her up this early on a weekend, it was shopping—especially when she actually had a reason to be dragging her best friend along for the ride. "1…2…3…4…" just as she was about to say five, the door opened revealing a seriously annoyed looking Booth.

"Really, Angela, was this necessary? It's a Saturday. The day of rest!"

"I thought that was Sunday for you Catholic boys?" Angela replied with a grin. "Now, where's Bren? We've got a busy day ahead of us!" She heard a groan coming from the direction of the bed and smiled. "Keep her up all night, huh, Seeley?" Angela asked Booth with a cheeky grin. Without waiting for a reply, she walked past him towards the bed, grabbed the blankets and yanked them completely off the bed, exposing her best friend—who thankfully was wearing a tank top and shorts.

"Dead," Brennan muttered, face down in her pillow.

"You're talking. I'm pretty sure that means you're not dead," Angela said.

"Not me," Brennan replied rolling onto her back. "You."

"Oh, come on Bren! It's a beautiful day," she began, opening the blinds in the bedroom. "The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, it's a great day to get out there and accomplish something!"

Brennan turned to her fiancé for help, but he just muttered something about crazy artists and went to go hide in the bathroom. She turned back to her best friend and looked past her out the window. She frowned and turned back to Angela. "You make it sound like it's a beautiful spring day. It's November. It's cold, all I can see are gray skies, the only birds chirping are probably the Canadian Geese that are here for the winter and they honk, not chirp, and I was planning on accomplishing something today…Catching up on sleep!"

Angela looked out the window at the weather, then turned back to Brennan. "Well, it's a bit chilly, but that's what jackets are for. The sun is shining behind the clouds, and I'm sure somewhere in the world it is actually sunny at this particular moment. Don't Cardinals stick around for the winter? They chirp. And we're going wedding dress shopping today. You can sleep when you're dead." She started walking towards the door, "I'll go make breakfast. You have thirty minutes to get showered and dressed. And wear white underwear and a strapless bra." With that, she shut the door and went downstairs to make waffles for everyone.

* * *

An hour and a half later—after showering, dressing, eating breakfast and cleaning up the kitchen—Brennan followed Angela into a bridal boutique called Promises. Angela had finally dragged her out of the house complaining that they were going to be late for their appointment half an hour earlier. Angela explained that the boutique they were going to was owned by an old friend of hers that was doing this consult as a special favor. Brennan tried hard to be appreciative, but she really wasn't excited about this. Tyler had been sick all week, so her sleep schedule was just about non-existent, making her impatient. Add to that the fact that shopping always made her cranky and she was in a really foul mood.

"Ok, Bren, I know you don't want to be here, but please be nice, okay?" Angela said, before they walked through the doors.

"I'll be nice. Let's just get this over with," Brennan replied. Then she stepped forward and opened the door to enter the store first.

Angela followed her in and looked around. She had never actually been in her friend Alicia's store. Ali had been in art school with her but left to go study fashion design and merchandising in New York. Since she moved to Washington a few years earlier, they met up a several times, but had never managed to visit each other's places of work.

"Angela!" Ali called out, walking out from the back room.

"Ali! How are you?" Without waiting for an answer, she continued. "This is my friend Temperance Brennan. She's the one getting married, so we're here to look at dresses."

Ali turned to Brennan with a smile, "It's a pleasure to meet you Temperance. Can I call you that?"

"Temperance is fine," Brennan replied, sizing the woman up. She hated doing it, but it was a reflex. Especially in this case as Ange was _her_ best friend, so meeting a friend of Angela's that she had never known it was even more of a reflex. Ali was about 5 feet, 5 inches tall with dark brown, almost black hair, and green eyes. It was an interesting combination that people probably commented on all the time. She owned a bridal shop, but she was dressed in jeans and bohemian blouse. Even though Brennan didn't know her, it was apparent that this woman's reputation for fashion preceded her, at least to a point that she could get away with casual clothes in a more formal business. Ali had a smile on her face that reached her eyes, making her appear genuine. Brennan quickly came to the conclusion that this woman was probably ok to befriend.

Ali had the feeling that she was being sized up, but from what little she knew about Temperance Brennan—both from TV gossip and Angela—she knew that it was really just her way of determining how much to open up. When Brennan gave a smile, Ali knew she passed whatever test it was that Temperance was giving. With that behind them, Ali spoke, "Ok, Ange wasn't really sure what you'd like so I have a few dresses already set up for you in the dressing room to try on, so let's head on back."

Brennan and Angela followed her towards the dressing rooms and when Ange saw the dresses she let out a small shriek. Brennan eyed her warily and Ange explained, "They're all so pretty!"

Brennan sighed and said, "Okay, let's get started."

Ali handed her a dress and sent her into the dressing room. As Brennan was changing, she started spouting off facts about the dress. "This is a Kenneth Pool design called Dauphine. It's silk faced satin and has a fitted bodice with ball gown bottom. It's available in white and ivory—you're wearing the white—and has the gold beadwork along the shoulder straps, bodice, hem and train. When you're done, come on out."

A couple minutes later, Brennan walked out with a pained look on her face.

"Oh, Bren, you look great!" Angela exclaimed. And she did. It was a princess dress minus the tulle. The gold beadwork was incredibly detailed and the bodice fit perfectly. Its shoulder straps were slightly thicker than typical spaghetti straps and had gold beadwork on them as well. Then Angela realized Brennan looked less than happy. "What's wrong?" she asked, worried.

"It's too much. I don't want something that I feel like I'm going to drown in. I mean, the beadwork is gorgeous, but this skirt is just too big. I can barely get through the door," she didn't want to sound whiny but she wanted something a little less Princess Diana and a little more Brennan.

"Ok, that's fine. This is helping us narrow down the choices," Ali broke in. She turned to a rack of dresses and pulled one off. "Try this one on next." She handed the dress to Brennan and Bren went back into the dressing room. "This one is by Rosa Clara, a designer from Spain. It's silk with lace overlay and has beading along the empire waist. It's got a trumpet bottom with a train and has buttons up the back. The sleeves are also the lace overlay."

Brennan walked out and before anyone could say anything said, "I feel like I'm wearing a curtain."

Ali and Angela were shocked for a second and burst out laughing. Ange recovered first and said, "Well, I think it's a pretty dress, but I can see why you think it's a curtain. It'd be a really nice curtain though," she added with a smile.

Brennan smiled back, "It would be a nice curtain. But on someone else maybe."

Ali smiled and said "Ok, well, let's try this on one," handing Brennan another dress. This continued for another hour before Ali had to leave the two women to go to another meeting.

Brennan turned to Angela and said, "I'm not really finding anything I like."

"I know," Angela sighed. "None of these dresses have screamed 'you.'" Brennan got a confused look on her face and Angela quickly added, "Metaphorically speaking."

Brennan sighed and suggested they leave. "Maybe just come back another day when we're not suffering from a wedding dress overdose?"

"Sounds good, let's go grab lunch."

* * *

As the women were walking towards the diner for lunch they passed a David's Bridal and one of the dresses caught Brennan's eye. "Let's go in here, for a minute," she said, walking through door without waiting for Angela's reply.

Angela quickly caught up with her, just inside the door. "A David's Bridal? Seriously?" she whispered.

"What's wrong with David's Bridal?" Brennan asked in confusion.

"Nothing," Angela replied quickly. "It's just, David's Bridal is more of a common person store. Not a millionaire author's kind of store. Someone of your standing would typically be going to private designers, not getting an off the rack dress."

"If I find a dress I like what's it matter where I got it or how much I spent on it?" Brennan countered.

"Nothing. I just figured you'd want the best of the best of the best. But hey, cheap works for me, too. More money in the budget for food," she said with a smile. Angela sometimes forgot that her best friend didn't need society's idea of the best of everything. She just needed to be happy and if a dress from here did that, perfect.

"Can I help you ladies?" A young woman asked, walking up to the pair.

"Yes," Brennan said. "I'd like to try on that dress," she continued, pointing to one on a mannequin near the front of the store.

"Of course," the sales woman said. She looked Brennan up and down to gauge her size and walked to one wall of the store to find the dress. She pulled it off the rack and headed towards the dressing rooms. Angela and Brennan followed. She hung the dress up inside one of the dressing rooms and stepped back out. "Here you are. If you have any questions, need a different size, or anything else, please let me know. My name is Katie." With that, she walked toward the entrance to the dressing room, hovering in case they needed anything.

Brennan walked into the dressing room and changed into the dress. When she came back out she had a smile on her face. The dress was a white halter dress with an A-Line skirt. It had a chapel train with a lace up back and beading along the train and the bodice. The dress appeared to be two layers, one that was plain satin and opened in the front to reveal more lace beading. At the opening of the dress, about where an empire waist would be, was a black sash that wrapped around to the back and tied, flowing down to almost match the length of the train. The sash had beading on it, as well, near the bottom.

"Wow," Angela said. "You look amazing. Beautiful. Booth will have a coronary at the altar."

Brennan laughed. "I think Booth is a little too healthy for me to give him a heart attack. But do you really think it looks good?" she asked, suddenly unsure of herself.

"You look amazing. Fabulous. Magnificent. Brilliant. Radiant. Daz—"

"I get it," Brennan interrupted with a laugh. "Thank you. I really like this one. Do you think we could get a different color though?" she asked pointing to the sash.

"Let's ask Katie. Oh, Katie!!" Angela called out.

Katie walked back into the dressing area and asked, "How can I help?"

Brennan turned to her and asked whether the dress came with different color sashes.

"Yes, it does. It comes in several different colors, actually. Let me get you a list and samples," she said, walking back out.

"You know what this means don't you?" Angela asked, turning to Brennan.

"What?"

"You've actually got to pick colors now."

Brennan smiled. "I guess I do. I'll pick them out from whatever colors this comes with."

"You want this dress bad enough that you'll design your wedding colors around it?" Angela asked, incredulously.

"Yes," Brennan replied. "I finally found a dress I like. I'm just going to have to work around it."

Katie came back and handed Brennan a sheet with a list of colors and swatches as examples. "Thank you," Brennan told her. "We'll have to pick out a color, but then I can come back and order it, correct?"

"Yes, ma'am," Katie replied.

"Ok, thank you, Katie. We'll be back soon," Brennan told her before walking back into the dressing room to change into her street clothes.

* * *

As Brennan and Angela walked out of the David's Bridal, Angela started laughing.

"What?" Brennan asked her.

"Well, we spend all morning trying on dresses by these great designers at a high-end boutique and you can't find a thing. Then we stop at a David's Bridal and you find the perfect dress right away, which you love so much you're willing to design the rest of your wedding around. It's just kind of amazing."

"What can I say?" Brennan asked. "I'm a woman that never ceases to amaze."

Angela smiled. "Well, Miss Amazing, it's time to eat and pick wedding colors."

* * *

**A/N: Couple things. First, Promises (as far as I know) does not exist. Second, there is no David's Bridal in DC. If you have a problem with my artistic liberties, just deal with it, k? Thanks. **

**Also, the dresses I described in the story do exist. I can't actually copy two of them though, so I'm just going to let you know where to view them. The first one is Kenneth Pool. His website is his name (no spaces or lines or anything) at . com. Go to "Gowns," page 3, first dress in the second row. The second dress is Rosa Clara. Her site is her name at . es. You'll have to select english at the bottom unless you want it in spanish. Then go to "Rosa Clara" in the column on the right. Click on "See Models" which will be blinking at the bottom center. The dress I described is "112 Landric." The last one is from David's Bridal. Go to their website and search for T9218. That's the dress.**

**As always let me know what you think!**


	4. Marine, Wine, Clover, Pink, Pool

**A/N: Ok, I am soooo sorry this took so long. The last couple weeks have been crazy. First was finals week and I had a fifteen page paper due, then a twenty page paper due, then I had to grade all of my undergraduates finals and as soon as that was over I was told that my contract as a Teaching Assistant wasn't going to be renewed for the fall so I've been applying for jobs like crazy. But now that there are no other jobs to apply for (trust me after the hundred or so I've applied for, I've exhausted my resources) I'm back to writing. I know, I know, boring excuses :)**

**This is actually just the first part of this chapter. I was going to make it longer, but I figured I'd post something for you now to tide you over. Hopefully I'll have more up today or tomorrow.**

**Thank you to mustanggirlz07 for all your catch-up reviews and to csimesser1, crazycamera, , perscribo, and hazelwood for your chapter 3 reviews. I appreciate them all very much. Now without further ado...**

* * *

Angela and Brennan walked into the diner and sat down at their usual table. Brennan pulled out the paper that Katie at David's Bridal had given her. There were more than a dozen colors available for the sash on her wedding dress ranging from black to champagne with reds, blues, greens, and even a brown color, in between. She glanced up as the waitress came to the table and she and Angela both ordered salads before Brennan turned back to her options. "I have no idea," she said finally, pushing the paper towards her best friend.

Angela raised her eyebrows, "Well I'm certainly not choosing for you. It's your wedding, remember? You get to pick the colors." She slid the paper back towards Brennan.

Brennan frowned, looking back down at the sheet of paper. It just seemed like this was one of those things that was a really big deal. If you picked the wrong color, you couldn't get the right invitations, or the flowers you wanted, or the right centerpieces for the reception tables. It just seemed like choosing her colors was a big thing, and Brennan did not want to deal with big things. She wanted to be told "here are the general parameters, work within them." And to her, general parameters included colors.

"Well, how should I know what color to use?" she asked, figuring that Angela was at least willing to give insight into everything.

"Well, let's go down the list and decide one by one whether the color is a definite no or a possible yes. Then we can narrow it from there, 'kay?" Angela suggested, moving the paper with the color samples to the center of the table. Just as she did, the waitress brought their salads and they decided to eat, then choose.

After they finished eating and both ordered coffees, Angela pulled the paper back out and a pen to take notes. "Ok, first color, Apple," she announced to Brennan.

Brennan looked down at it and wrinkled her nose. "It's pretty, but we're having an outdoor wedding on the Bay in June in the afternoon. I just think we should go with something lighter," she explained, unsure if that was the response Angela wanted.

"That's good, really," Angela said, reassuring her friend. "That actually helps us cross Black, Lapis, Marine, Truffle, and Wine off the list as well," she finished with a smile. "So six down, eleven more go. Any other preferences, like…" she glanced over the list, "do you really want a white or off-white color or do you want something contrasting?"

Brennan tipped her head to the side and chewed on her bottom lip for a second. It was vaguely irritating to her that she could make split second decisions about wanting children and whether or not to shoot a bad guy, but she had to mull over wedding colors. Finally, she made her decision. "I definitely want something contrasting. This is going to be one of my colors, and it's going to be a fairly casual atmosphere so white or ivory is out."

"Ok, that eliminates White, Ivory, and Champagne. So only eight colors left. We have greens, blues, purples and one pink. Any preferences? You know what? No purple. You don't even like purple. So that takes care of Wild Orchid and Lilac, so, six choices. Clover, Cornflower, Peri—which is a slightly darker cornflower, if you ask me, Peridot—which is greenish gray color, Pink and Pool. What do you think?"

Brennan thought for a moment. "Well, no peridot, it's too gray. Pink is a pretty girly color and I think Booth would have a stroke if I had anything exceptionally feminine." She looked down at her final four choices and shook her head. "I don't know Ange. This is a lot harder than I expected."

Angela knew Brennan was having an internal freak-out, so she looked down at the colors left. She pointed to Pool, "That would look really pretty with daffodils, don't you think?"

Brennan looked at the color, then back at Angela, "Yes. Your point?"

Angela laughed. "It's your wedding sweetie. Your favorite flowers are daffodils. You think we can't make sure that at least some of the flowers at the wedding are your favorite?"

Brennan smiled. "I picked my colors. Pool and Daffodil."

"Well, I'm not sure Daffodil is actually a color, but a bright blue-green and a bright yellow will look good together. Now you know what this means, right?"

Brennan suddenly look worried. "No…" she said cautiously.

"Time to round up your significant other and pick out invites!!" Angela said excitedly. "And while you get him, I'm going to add this to your wedding book. I'll send Hodgins to your place to watch the hockey team you're working on, and you and Booth can meet me at this address at three-thirty. It's a private residence, but she's the one that did the invites for me and Hodgins. So she's good."

* * *

A/N: Ok, like I said, wicked short. There's more coming. Promise!


	5. Too Girly, Too Plain, Just Right

**A/N: Here it is, the next section. As always let me know what you think. The first part is kinda (ok REALLY) random, but it came to me so it's going in.**

**Thanks to Samvalasam, mustanggirlz07, csimesser1, and supershipper for their reviews!**

* * *

Hodgins arrived at the Booth residence to find complete and utter chaos. It was a Saturday, so of course there were four kids at home ranging from six months to sixteen years, and with the cold, dreary weather outside, they were pretty much stuck inside—which apparently makes for total chaos. Hodgins had knocked, and even rung the bell, but as no one had answered he just walked in. Tyler was in his high chair wailing and covered in what appeared to be mashed carrots, with Brennan sitting in front of him with her back to the door. She probably wasn't smiling though. He could hear Dani and Chris upstairs screaming at each other over what sounded like a toy. And Booth was, at this very moment, following Parker down the stairs. Parker was stomping down the stairs "explaining" that he was sixteen and practically grown up and his father could kindly butt out of his life. Booth was "explaining" in return that there was no way in hell he was letting a sixteen year old spend a weekend away with anyone of the female persuasion. Of course, their explanations were delivered in a much higher than necessary decibel. Which was when Booth finally noticed Hodgins.

"Jack! Thank god you're here," the FBI agent truly looked relieve to have him there.

"Yeah," Parker chimed in, "maybe you can explain to my father that it's okay if Hannah and I spend the weekend down at Williamsburg. Everyone is going to be there, Jake, Lori—"

"Will you and Hannah be sharing a hotel room?" Jack interrupted.

"Well…" Parker trailed off.

"In that case, I'm with your dad on this one kid. Sixteen is too young for weekend holidays with someone of the opposite sex. Sorry, bud."

Parker glared at his uncle and stormed off back up the stairs.

Booth sighed and shook his head. "I know what I was like at that age, and frankly I've considered putting him in an all-boys school so I don't need to worry about it."

Jack laughed, "Dude, I went to an all boys school for a year and trust me, we still found girls. So don't bother. At least this way you know the one he's with is a decent girl."

"True. Let me just grab Bones and this circus is all yours."

Jack followed him into the kitchen and could see the relief on Brennan's face when she noticed he was there. "Let me just have the spoon and the seat Dr. B and you can go get some invitations."

"Thank you so much Jack. I really appreciate this," she said. She turned to her fiancée and told him to give her five minutes to wash up.

Jack watched the two walk out of the kitchen. "Ok, buddy. You and me now," he said to Tyler. "You're gonna be good for your Uncle Jack right?" he asked as he put the spoon with what he now knew were definitely mashed carrots into Tyler's mouth. When Tyler immediately spit them out at Jack and started giggling, he continued, "I guess not."

* * *

Booth and Brennan arrived late. Of course. They had learned a long time ago that even if you weren't bringing the kids with you, parents were never on time. It's was some sort of law, as far as they could tell. Angela was already waiting on the porch with an older woman as they parked the SUV. They both walked up the driveway and to the house calling out apologies and excuses.

The woman smiled, "I have three kids, all grown now, but I understand. Don't worry."

Angela made introductions, letting the couple know that the woman was named Sara Wells. She then turned to Sara and said, "Ok, I've made sure they got here and made the introductions. I'm out of here. I'll go help Hodgins with the kids. Why I ever thought a million kids would be good is beyond me. Clearly, four is border line insane." With that she left the other three to their design work. As an artist, she wanted to stay, and as the best friend she wanted to stay, but she knew that there were some things Booth and Brennan just needed to do on their own, and she decided this was one of them.

As the three entered the house Sara guided Booth and Brennan towards her office. "Angela has already given me your colors and told me that you're getting married along the Chesapeake Bay."

Booth leaned over to Brennan and whispered, "We have colors?"

Brennan whispered back, "Pool and Daffodil." When Booth just gave her a confused look she thought for a second, "A light blue-green color and yellow."

The three sat down at a table that had several book stacked on it. Sara spoke when everyone was situated. "We can do the invitations one of two ways. You can either do pre-printed designs or we can choose the different styles of paper and ribbons you want and layer them for the invitation. Depending on which pre-printed design you choose or how many different layers and what styles of paper you'd like will determine the cost, some pre-printed designs will be cheaper while sometimes it could be the layered design that would be cheaper."

Booth and Brennan looked at each other, then Brennan turned back to Sara. "Let's look at a few of the pre-printed ones to see if we find something we like, and if not, we'll design our own."

"Ok, I've gone through and marked the designs that have your colors, and we really only have a few. Aqua was a big color a few years back, but it's beyond its peak now, so harder to find. Here's the first one." The invitation set included the invitation, the response card, a reception card, and a personalized note card, as well as envelopes. The invitation envelope was white, as were all the various cards. Each card had on it several tropical flowers in a deep aqua color with black writing.

Booth and Brennan looked at the cards and then Booth turned to Brennan, "I don't know what half of this stuff is for, but it looks good to me."

Brennan rolled her eyes. "Invitation," she started holding it up for him to see, "tells people we're getting married and where and when." She held up the response card, "This is so they can tell us if they're coming. This," she said, holding up the reception card, "would be to let them know where the reception is being held, if we were having two separate locations. We really don't need this as it's all going to be in one location. And this is personalized note card so we can write something personal to special guests. Which we also don't need because if they're that special we'll talk in person." She turned to Sara, "These are okay, but the coloring is too dark to match the color we're looking for."

"Okay, we have a few other cards that are going to be lighter than that. Here we have our Helpful Doves invitation. It's a tri-fold card and on the front you can put your names or a favored quote and then inside goes the actual invitation text." The invitation had two doves on the front cover that were holding strings of pearls in their beaks. The strings of pears were connected to a bouquet of aqua tinged roses. When the card was opened the invitation information was located inside in aqua ink. The response card came with same dove, pearl, roses design.

"This is pretty," Brennan said. "And it's the right colors." She glanced at the white envelope that came with the invitations. The sample was lined in black, so she turned to Sara, "Can the envelope lining come in yellow, to add the contrast?"

"Yes, it's more of a pale yellow than bright yellow, though."

"Oh, see there, Bones, not the right color," Booth said quickly.

Brennan eyed him suspiciously. "You don't like this invitation?"

"Well…"

"Well?"

"It's just really girly. Not that there's anything wrong with that," he added quickly, noticing her raised eyebrow. "It' just not really me, and even you have never been overly girly. I get that it's a wedding and it's supposed to be romantic and all, but why get something that's not really 'us?'" he questioned.

"That's true," Brennan conceded. "Do you have anything less 'girly?'" she asked Sara.

"The last invite we have in aqua is this one. It's a plain white invite, trimmed in aqua embossing with curly designs in each of the corners," she replied, turning the pages in her binder, finally coming to the one she wanted.

It was nice, and not too feminine, but neither did it make much of an impression on Booth and Brennan. They looked at each other for a second and simultaneously turned back to Sara, saying "Anything else?"

Sara shook her head. Once these two managed to open up about what they really wanted, they were clearly on the same plane. And that little communicating without talking thing was sweet. "We don't have any other pre-printed invitations, but we can work with designing your own." She pulled over another binder and told them, "Each of the designs in here can be done with various different colors of papers, ribbons and ink. Pick a design you like and we can pick the colors you want afterwards." She then handed the binder over to the couple and left them to look through it for a little while.

When she came back a few minutes later, she could tell immediately that they had made a decision.

The couple looked up at her as she sat down across from them. "We've made our decision," Brennan said.

"Alright, what'll it be?"

Brennan turned the binder around so that Sara could see, "We like this one. Can we see what the color options are for it?" The invitation she pointed to was a fairly simple design, but classy. There were two layers of rectangular paper, the top layer just smaller than the bottom. To the left of the paper were two interlocking ribbons going from top to bottom and held in place at the top and bottom between the two pieces of paper. The writing for the invitation was to the right. The response was just two layers of paper in the same fashion as the invitation and both came with lined envelopes.

"Ok, sounds good, for the paper, the only options that we have that will fit with your scheme are black, white, and aqua. For the ribbons we have aqua, eggshell blue, banana and canary." She handed them samples of each as she listed them. Booth and Brennan moved the items around trying to determine which items looked best. They finally decided on aqua paper for the bottom layer and white for the top. The two ribbons would be eggshell blue for the top ribbon and canary for the bottom.

"Ok, next we need to choose your text. Angela has already sent me the wording, so I just need to know what colors and fonts. We have a yellow ink available, but it's really too pale to show up properly on white, so I would suggest teal, turquoise, aqua or black. And here are samples of our fonts."

Booth and Brennan looked over the fonts, before picking a no-nonsense style similar to Century Gothic in Microsoft. Their names would be slightly larger and they chose to have their names and the time and location in teal, while having the rest of the wording in aqua. Finally they discussed envelopes. They were going to have a white outer envelope with an aqua trim and an aqua inner envelope. The linings were going to be aqua for the outer envelope and white for the inner.

Having finally made all the necessary decisions, they talked price—which was much higher than Booth was expected but didn't cause Brennan to bat an eye—and got up to leave. As they reached the car, Booth had a thought. "Go get in the car, I left my glasses inside. I'll be right back."

"Ok," Brennan replied with a shrug, getting into the passenger side of the SUV.

Booth knocked on Sara's door and when she opened it, he asked to come inside for a minute. She let him in and he asked, "What exactly did Angela tell you to put as the wording?"

She led him to her office and opened the file she had for them, handing him a slip of paper. It read:

"_Temperance Brennan  
and  
Seeley Booth  
are finally going to do it!  
They're going to tie the knot; say 'I Do'  
become husband and wife.  
Be a part of the excitement—  
Don't miss  
this once in a lifetime experience  
never before witnessed by anyone!  
June 23, 2017 at 1:00 p.m.  
Chesapeake Bay Beach Club  
Stevensville, Maryland_"

"Is that okay?" Sara said with some concern.

Booth looked up with a grin, "Yep, this is great. Just don't let Bones, I mean Temperance, see this, k?"

Sara gave him a knowing smirk and agreed, leading him back to the front door.

* * *

**A/N: Ok, one more chapter down, who knows how many more to go. Let me know what you think (the good, the bad and the ugly).**


	6. Just like Mommy

**A/N: I am SOOOO sorry for how long it took me to get this up here. I've had a massive case of writers block that started with that ridiculous finale and then continued when my friend got engaged (I think that realy wedding planning wore me out for the pretend wedding planning) and then I just couldn't get back into my groove. But I finally sat down this week and forced myself to write. I wrote this chapter four times and I'm still not sure if I like it, but I figure at least now I'm back in the groove of writing so hopefully it won't take quite so long for the next chapter (and if it does you have my permission to come through the computer and shoot me).**

**As always I own nothing.**

**And of course thank you to , csimesser1 and mustanggirlz07 for you reviews. I really appreciate them!!**

_Just a reminder, Booth and Brennan are planning their wedding at the urging of Angela and so far they've chosen the location, the wedding dress and the invitations. So, now that you're all caught up, here you go!_

* * *

A little more than a week had passed since Booth and Brennan had chosen their invitations. The sample invite had already come in and been approved, so Brennan was in her office taking a breather from the wedding planning. There were definitely moments when she got caught up in the hoopla, but for the most part she really wasn't interested in dealing with it. In another week she had a meeting at the Chesapeake Bay Beach Club with Booth in order to choose linens, centerpieces, cake and the menu, but for now she could relax. Or so she thought…

Angela glided into her best friends office with Cam trailing behind her. "Ok, sweetie, time to go."

"Go where?" Brennan asked suspiciously.

"Shopping for bridesmaids dresses," Angela announced cheerfully.

Brennan eyed Cam, figuring that maybe the no-nonsense pathologist would be willing to put it off—two against one might work. Cam just shook her head. "We have to do this at some point. May as well get it over with."

Brennan groaned and knew there was no point in arguing. She would never win, and really it would end up being a waste of time and energy, so she shut down her computer and grabbed her purse, following the two other women out of her office.

* * *

The three women made the trek across town, discussing what kind of dresses they were interested in. They needed bridesmaid's dresses for Angela and Cam, as well as a junior bridesmaids dress for Chris and a flower girl dress for Dani. Angela was really the one doing all the talking—about what style of dress would be best, whether or not they should try and get Chris' dress to match the adult dresses or just be something similar or be something completely different, what kind of flower girl dress they should get.

On the way to the store they picked up Chris from school and Dani from daycare, as school was just letting out for the day. The group made their way to the David's Bridal where Brennan had already ordered her dress and decided that they would search for dresses for themselves first, then the dresses for the girls. That way the girls would have something to look forward to, rather than wanting to leave as soon as they were done with their own dresses and getting restless while the adults tried theirs on.

The group walked into the store, where Katie was waiting for them. Angela had called ahead to give the sizes of each person, and Katie had pulled out all the dresses they had in those sizes that could be ordered in the color Pool. She had placed all the dresses on racks near the dressing room, so that the women could look through the dresses and narrow down their choices as far as which to try on.

"Ok, so we need to narrow down our choices," Angela began. "Do you want us to wear long dresses or short?" she finished, turning to Brennan.

"Umm…" Brennan looked completely lost. How should she know what would be appropriate and look right and all that?

Katie notice Brennan's confusion and asked "Well, is it a morning, afternoon or evening wedding?"

"It's in the afternoon, in June, outdoors," Angela answered, figuring that the more information that Katie had the better she could help.

Katie smiled, "In that case you're probably looking for something less formal, more casual, right?"

"Yes," Brennan said with a sigh of gratitude. "Definitely not formal."

Katie nodded and said "In that case, I would suggest something shorter. Longer dresses tend to project a more formal image." She walked over to the racks of dresses and started taking some off the rack, "I'll just take these and put them back, as they're all long, leaving you with just shorter dresses to choose from." With that she walked away.

Brennan turned to Angela and Cam. "Can you just choose one?" she said, obviously frustrated. "I don't care what you're wearing. As long as it matches. And even if it didn't, I'm not sure it'd make a difference." She spun around and walked out of the dressing room, leaving Chris and Dani wide eyed and Cam and Angela just sighing and rolling their eyes.

"Give me a minute and I'll be right back," Angela said to the others. She walked out to the front of the store and found Brennan pacing. She sighed and walked up to her best friend, knowing the Brennan was still not in a good mood. "Bren?"

Brennan stopped pacing and stared at Angela. She knew that Ange was just trying to help and that she was being a real pill, but she couldn't help it. She needed a break. How the hell did normal brides go completely overboard planning every little detail of their weddings while she couldn't even handle picking out dresses? For once she thought it might just be easier to be normal. Even if she never really gave any credence to the ease that "normalcy" would provide. She was herself and that was usually fine. Apparently however, being herself was a problem when it came to planning her wedding. "I'm sorry, Ange. I'm just really not sure about any of this and I'm taking it out on you."

Angela smiled. It looked like she wasn't going to have to come up with a maid-of-honor, off-the-cuff pep talk today. "It's okay. I get it. How about you come back and look at the dresses with us, and we'll help you make the decision ok?" When Brennan nodded she continued, "Ok, we have about 15 dresses back there to choose from, so we've gotta come up with a checklist to narrow them down ok? Let's go."

The two women walked back to find the number of possibilities narrowed down by Brennan's daughters. When Angela just raised her eyebrows at them Chris spoke up, "They were really plain and boring, so we didn't like them. The ones left are pretty." Cam just shrugged.

They had brought the number of dresses down to nine to choose from. Angela looked over at Brennan. "This is just me, but I'm thinking that maybe we should ditch the strapless. You're dress is a halter neckline so a strapless wouldn't go with the line nor would anything with a high neckline. What do you think, Bren?"

Brennan cocked her head to the side thinking about it. "This is definitely more your area of expertise than mine, but it makes sense, so let's go with it. How many are left?"

After they moved the dresses that were strapless or had high necklines out of the way there were only three dresses left. Brennan looked at the three of them. The first two looked nice, but the third had wide cap sleeves and a wide belt-type waist that she didn't particularly like. She took the first two and handed them to Angela and Cam. "Try these on and let me know which you prefer." The first was a sleeveless chiffon dress with beaded straps and a high waist. It came into a v-neck with satin bordering the neckline and creating the straps. The other dress was also a sleeveless chiffon v-neck dress with a high waist. It was more plain in that there was no beading, but the chiffon in the front split open at the center of the waistline revealing the fabric underneath, following the same line as Brennan's wedding dress. After Cam and Angela tried both dresses on, they decided on the second dress. It wasn't quite as intricate as the first, but they both liked that it mirrored the lines of Brennan's dress and felt that, as bridesmaids and not brides, they should be in something more plain.

After the adults made their choices they switched their attention to the girls. They needed a junior bridesmaids dress for Chris, who would be seven by the time of the wedding, and a flower girl dress for Dani, who would be almost five. There were only five junior bridesmaid's dresses and only two were short, so there wasn't much of a decision to make. Chris and her mother chose a plain satin dress with spaghetti straps. In addition to the dress they got a sash for a belt to make the dress a little more creative. They decided that her dress would be Canary Yellow and the sash would be in Pool to make the wedding party a little more festive.

"Look," Angela said with a smile, "they have a matching dress for flower girls. This way, Chris and Dani can wear matching outfits." Cam and Brennan nodded, thinking that was a great idea.

However, after about ten seconds of silent communication between each other the young sisters looked at the older women and said in unison, "Not gonna happen."

Angela, Brennan and Cam, who had all been standing around a rack facing each other and talking, suddenly stopped and turned to the girls.

Brennan spoke first, "No?"

"You don't like it?" Angela asked, appearing a little hurt that her nieces, who almost always took her side, didn't like her idea this time.

"It's not that we don't like it Aunt Angela," Chris said, trying to appease her favorite aunt. "It's just…" she wasn't sure what to say, since it really was that they didn't like it.

Dani jumped in to help her sister out. "It's just that all the other flower girls wear white and there are some dresses that have pretty sashes on them and I want to wear white and blue just like mommy." The women smiled at her "just like mommy" comment and both girls knew they won.

Dani tried on a few dresses before choosing one that was a white sleeveless satin gown with a beaded tulle skirt. It had a sash belt in Pool that created a bow in the back.

After they finally made all their decisions and ordered their dresses, matching shoes, purses and a flower girl basket Brennan decided it was time to eat and forget about wedding planning for the day. Surprisingly, even Angela, the wedding planning butterfly herself, agreed and they left the store.

* * *

**Ok, so I'm sure you're wondering what all this stuff actually looks like, so just go to the Davids Bridal website and look for the following:  
Bridesmaids Dress: Style F13307 (in Pool)  
Junior Bridesmaids Dress: Style JB2815 (in Canary with a Pool sash)  
Flower Girl Dress: H1108 (in Pool)  
Shoes: Style Amanda (adults only, they didn't have any shoes online for girls, so I'm thinking, just imagine satin ballet flats) (in Pool)  
Purse: Style 21878 (in Pool)  
Flower Girl Basket: Doesn't actually have a style number or name, so go to "Ceremony & Reception" at the top right, choose "Ceremony" from the column on the left then "Flower Girl Baskets." It should be the second one on the first row and it's called "David's Exclusive Monogram Collection Flower Girl Basket." (in Pool)**

**Thank you soooo much for reading (and actually sticking with this) and let me know what you think!**


	7. Food is Supposed to be Fun

**A/N: This one is way longer than any other chapter and I'm not sure if I like that or not. This is where they're planning the decorations and menu and I tried my best to make it not sound like a shopping list and still have a lot of interaction. Let me know if it works for you. **

**Thanks to crazycamera, mustanggirlz07 and csimesser for your reviews and to everyone who's added this to their alerts and favorites.**

**As always I own nada!**

* * *

It had been a week since the women had ordered their dresses and it would be a few more before they came back in for alterations, but Brennan found herself spending yet another day dedicated to wedding planning. She and Booth had a meeting at the Chesapeake Bay Beach Club at 11 in the morning. They were going to be choosing the linens, centerpieces, menu and cake. The linens and centerpieces she could care less about. She was looking forward to the food part though. Choosing the menu would be fun and tasting the cakes would be, to use Parker's terminology, totally awesome.

The Club was baking them four small cakes to taste and they would choose from those. Booth and Brennan each chose two flavors to try and whichever flavor they agreed upon would be their wedding cake. Booth chose an apple spice cake with cinnamon buttercream filling and frosting and a dark chocolate cake with mint cream filling and chocolate frosting. Brennan decided on a chocolate cake with peanut butter cream filling and chocolate frosting and a pumpkin spice cake with cream cheese filling and frosting. She was really looking forward to trying all that cake.

Brennan was startled from her daydreams by her fiancé walking into her office. "Let's go Bones. You've had your two hours to read and reply to your emails and catch up on anything you didn't finish yesterday and now we have a date with some tablecloths."

Brennan laughed and started powering down her computer. "There is more involved than some tablecloths. And besides, I thought you'd be more interested in the cake. I distinctly recall you volunteering to specifically to help with choosing the cake when all this started."

Booth flashed his charm smile, "Well, you asked me to save you from the wedding planning and I couldn't really get rid of the planning but supporting your intake of sugar must help some right?"

"Accompanying me to a cake tasting is not saving me. Convincing Angela to pick out her bridesmaids dress on her own without dragging me along would have been saving me. Picking out the invitations on your own would have been saving me. Coming along so that you can eat junk food is not saving me."

Booth continued to smile as she grabbed her things and walked towards him. He wrapped his arm around her, "Well at least I'm keeping you company, right? That helps," he said knowing full well that his keeping her company while she ate cake didn't really count for much when she had so much other stuff that Angela was throwing at her. In addition to the dresses, she'd had to choose wedding favors for the guests and come up with ideas for place cards and work on the guest list and choose the flowers and who knew what else.

* * *

A little more than an hour later the couple arrived at the club and made their way to Tara James' office. When they arrived in the doorway, Tara looked up and smiled, "Agent Booth, Dr. Brennan, hello again."

"Hello, Tara. Are you ready for us?" Brennan asked.

"Of course, Dr. Brennan. If you'll just come with me, we're going to plan all this in the Beach House Ballroom so that you can get a feel for everything in the actual setting of the wedding."

The trio walked to the ballroom and found four tables set up already. Each one had different color napkins and a different color tablecloth along with a different centerpiece. A fifth table off to the side had three more centerpieces and four small cakes. Tara turned to the couple and explained the set up. "We have four tables set up with possible blue/yellow color combinations of table cloths and napkins. We only have one shade of yellow linens, but we have two shades of blue-green that might work for you. We also have seven different centerpieces to choose from and then of course, we also have the cakes for you to try. I was thinking we could choose the linens, then the centerpieces, then the cake then the rest of the menu. How does that sound?"

"Sounds good," Booth said, turning to Brennan.

Brennan didn't really respond to the question, instead announcing, "I like the yellow tablecloth and the lighter of the two blues for the napkins." Then, turning to Booth, "What do you think?"

Booth just laughed, glanced over at the tables again and said, "Works for me. Now which centerpiece do you want?" They looked around the room at the available choices. Some were easy to reject, like the crystal dish with aqua and yellow floating heart candles and the white feather boa bordering the base. _Too girly_, they both thought. They narrowed their choices down to two centerpieces. The first was a tall square glass vase with aqua water-beads filling it. Coming out of the vase was a small bouquet of daffodils. On the table beneath the square vase were crisscrossed yellow and aqua ribbons. The other choice was a lantern centerpiece. A black metal square lantern was hanging from a matching hook and had an aqua colored candle in it. At the base of the hook, just below the lantern was a base of green tropical plant leaves and daffodils. After much deliberation they finally decided on the lantern centerpiece. It wasn't just a typical centerpiece, it was unique and they both agreed that uniqueness was a good thing.

Then they turned to cake decisions. The couple tried the apple spice cake first, which Booth loved. "It reminds me of apple pie," he said with a grin.

Brennan rolled her eyes and agreed. "It does remind me of pie. I don't like it."

Booth narrowed his eyes. "I'm guessing this is one of those situations where it really doesn't matter what I think, if you don't like it, it's not going to happen, right?"

Brennan smirked. "That's not true. If you don't like a cake, then we won't get it, but the second part was right, if I don't like it, we're not going to get it. We have to both like it."

"Fair enough," he responded before picking up a piece of the pumpkin/cream cheese cake. "I'm not sure this is best for a summer wedding. I mean pumpkin? Can you say 'Thanksgiving?'"

"Thanksgiving," Brennan deadpanned. "Just try it. I like it."

"It's good," Booth agreed. "But I still don't like it for a June wedding."

"Ok, let's try the chocolate mint cake." The couple tried both the chocolate mint and the chocolate peanut butter cakes and agreed that both were really good. "How are we supposed to choose now?" Brennan asked. She had been hoping that only one cake would garner positive agreement from both of them. She didn't want to get into an argument over cake.

Booth looked from one cake to the other. He then turned to his fiancé. "Well, I think we should go with the mint chocolate," he said finally.

"Okay…" Brennan replied cautiously, then she went for blunt, "Why?"

Booth knew she wasn't necessarily upset with his decision, just curious. She wanted a logical reason for his decision. As much as she had given credence to his "gut" she still liked dealing in hard evidence, and he knew that wedding planning would be no different. "How many people are we inviting to this wedding?"

"About a hundred or so," Brennan replied. "I think."

"And how many of those people do we actually know on a personal level?" he asked with a bit of irony.

"Maybe twenty?"

"Exactly. That's about eighty or so people that we don't know. We don't know if any of those people are allergic to peanuts. And nowadays a lot of people have peanut allergies. We wouldn't want to risk someone with severe allergies having an attack or not being able to partake in wedding cake," he explained.

"That's a valid point. I agree." She turned to Tara, "We'll go with the mint chocolate cake."

* * *

After finishing the remaining cake, Booth went to the restroom to wash up and while he was gone, Brennan turned to Tara. "I believe it is customary for the bride to order a special cake just for her husband, correct?"

"Yes," Tara responded. "It's called a grooms cake and it can be used for the rehearsal dinner or as a second cake at the reception and it's often cut up and boxed for the guests to take home. Am I to assume you'd like one?"

"Yes, for the rehearsal dinner I suppose, since I'm sure Booth would want to eat it."

"Of course, what kind would you like?"

"Would it be possible to make an apple pie?" Brennan asked hesitantly, knowing that an apple pie was probably not a traditional choice.

Tara smiled and said "Of course." She knew that it wasn't traditional, but nothing about this couple was and the choice showed that Brennan truly knew her future husband and what he'd like. It's not like the kitchen couldn't handle it.

* * *

When Booth came back to the ballroom the three sat down to the very serious business of planning the menu. There were several decisions to be made about the bar, the appetizers, the meal, desserts, as well as other extras. First they decided on the bar. They knew going in that they would get the Ultra Premium Bar. Most of their guests would be of the high society set and would expect it, so before Tara even asked, they told her that's what they wanted.

"Ok," she responded. "We have some extras that you can consider, as well. We can have a tea and coffee bar for guests that would like those beverages, it includes coffee, decaffeinated coffee, regular and herbal teas. We also have can have wine service at the tables, a champagne toast, and we can even make a signature drink. You would just have to provide us with a specific color, flavor or brand and we'll customize a drink just for you."

"Well," Brennan tilted her head in thought. "The coffee and tea might be nice for after dinner, and we definitely want wine brought to the tables and a champagne toast, but I don't think we really need a signature drink."

When Tara started making notations indicating the choices, Booth broke in. "What? No signature drink, Bones? It could be blue or yellow and—"

"Booth, you drink beer or some sort of liquor on the rocks. What do you care, since you won't be drinking it? And I don't need or even want some random fruity concoction named after me." Turning back to Tara she concluded, "So tea, wine and champagne. No signature drink."

"Ok," Tara said with a smile. "Let's talk appetizers. We have them broken down into Butler Served Hors D'oeuvres, Small Plate Hors D'oeuvres—which can be butler served or as a station, and Stationary Hors D'oeuvres. I know we discussed earlier having a seated dinner, so my suggestion would be to choose one or two groups of the Butler Served Hors D'oeuvres, including the Small Plates and then one or two Stationary Hors D'oeuvres. Here's the list of your options," she finished handing them a few sheets.

After a few minutes of going back and forth arguing over the different options and Brennan having to explain to Booth just what "ceviche," "chorizo," and "profiterole" meant, they finally made their decisions. Their stationary appetizers would include a Tropical Fruit display and a Maryland Seafood display. According to Brennan, "Maryland is known for their seafood, why on earth would I get married here and not have seafood?" They also chose two Butler Served sets of hors d'oeuvres, each with five varieties including miniature Maryland crab cakes, grilled bacon-wrapped barbeque shrimp skewers (definitely Booth's choice) and grilled vegetable and boursin cheese pinwheels. They wanted the appetizers to truly reflect the summer season and the Chesapeake Bay coastline.

Next they had to choose the salad, from which they had six choices. Brennan rejected the Lobster Martini because "Really it sounds like an alcoholic beverage not a salad and Lobsters aren't native to the Bay anyway."

Booth rolled his eyes before rejecting the Eggplant and Tomato Tower because according to him, "Eggplant is just gross."

It was Brennan's turn to roll her eyes and reject the Crab and Avocado as they already had so much other crab on the menu.

Booth agreed with this and suggested the Bouquet of Salad. "It sounds kind of girly, but it's a salad and salads are supposed to be girly. Plus the honey strawberry dressing sounds like it might be good."

"Salads are not girly Booth, they're healthy. But I agree that it does sound good, so we'll go with that."

Tara simply watched silently as the conversation bounced back and forth like a tennis match and took notes when appropriate.

Next on the agenda was the main course. As the wedding was going to be a seated dinner they had to choose from Paired Entrees, Land Entrees and Sea Entrees. Brennan had been told by Angela that most wedding gave the guests two options on the invitation, either "Chicken or Fish," or "Beef or Fish."

Brennan explained this to Booth and he responded, "Well, how about instead of just one or the other we have three choices. They have three categories here: Land, Sea, or Paired. Whatever we have for Land and Sea can be different from what's on the Paired plate so that no matter what people want it's somewhere on the menu."

"That sounds like a great idea Booth, so we need to pick one item from each category. I think that the sea category has to be their Maryland Jumbo Lump Crab Cakes. Not only is it a staple to the region, but these were on the Today Show."

Booth just looked at her. "And that matters to you?"

"Well, if they were on the Today Show that means that they were picked out of maybe a hundred other recipes that could have been chosen, so they must be good."

"Fair enough, crab cakes it is. Now what about Land? Most of the paired entrees are filet so for land I say we go with some sort of summery chicken."

"Sounds good, how about the Orange Basil Chicken? It sounds like it'll be fairly light."

"That works. And I was thinking the Filet and Grilled Shrimp Skewer for the paired meal. We don't have any red meat or shrimp on the other plates and grilled is definitely a summer thing," Booth had been eying the Filet and Shrimp since he looked at the menu. He knew Brennan would nix the traditional surf and turf because Lobster was from Maine, not Maryland, but nothing else appealed to him from the category.

"Ok, that works, so on to dessert?"

"The best part," he replied with a grin. He looked at the list of available desserts. "I'm assuming we're going to have the Chocolate Fondue Fountain?" he asked, knowing that Brennan liked Chocolate Fondue.

"Nope," she said quickly.

Booth's head shot up, "What?"

"We're going to have the Tri-Fecta Fountain," she said with a smile. This was the Holy Grail of fondue fountains. Three different types of chocolate and seven different types of dipping treats ranging from cheesecake to banana to berries.

When Booth realized what she meant he rolled his eyes with a smile. Of course she was going to go with the best of the best. She was the world famous Dr. Temperance Brennan, after all. They also decided to have the Petit Fours display and the Chocolate Covered Strawberries and nix the Fresh Fruit as they were having that as an hors d'oeuvres.

"We also have a couple other options for after dinner," Tara started. "We have what are called Petite Mousse in a Glass and Mousse Martinis that can be butler served or stationary. Basically it's mousse in either a martini glass or a cordial glass—your choice—that can be served to your guests. The Martini glass includes a treat on top of the mousse as well."

Booth and Brennan looked over the list of mousse options and what treats would top the Mousse Martinis. After almost thirty minutes of deliberation on mousse/treat combinations the couple finally settled on Vanilla Bean Mousse with a chocolate éclair topping, Orange Cream topped with a chocolate truffle, and Key Lime with raspberry cheesecake. After this decision was made, Booth turned to Tara. "Please tell me there are no more decisions. I'm tired. I'm hungry after all this food talk and I'm ready to get back to the city. Please, no more."

Brennan just looked at Tara silently, but her eyes showed her weariness with the decision making.

Tara smiled. She understood how overwhelming menu-planning could be. Sure, it was food and food can be fun. But after two hours of discussing a meal that in all likelihood the bride and groom won't have much time to enjoy, anyone would be tired. "There are just a couple more decisions. First, do you want an ice cream bar for dessert as well? We'll have chocolate and vanilla ice cream, hot fudge and caramel topping, crushed candies, nuts, whipped cream and cherries."

Booth and Brennan just looked at each other for a moment, then turned back and said "Yes," simultaneously.

"Alright, and we also have what we call 'Happily Ever After.' It's finger foods that can be butler served or stationary and are served towards the end of the reception for anyone that's gotten the munchies after so much partying. Would you like to include that? You can choose from Mini Hamburgers, Petite Hot Dogs, Mini Pizza, Foccacia Capri, and Petite Panini."

"Well, that might be kind of nice," Booth said, turning to Brennan.

Knowing the potential for massive discussions over what to choose for this 'Happy Ever After' or whatever Tara called it, she decided that it just wasn't happening. "No. We've got plenty of hors d'oeuvres, a salad, a main course and plenty of dessert. We're not feeding an army Booth. Just 100 people we don't know. They'll live with finishing the night with butler served and buffet style desserts." She turned to him with pleading eyes, letting him know she was ready to leave.

"You're right," he said with a reassuring smile. He turned to Tara, "Looks like we won't be having any of those."

"Alright, sounds great. I'll have an official copy of your menu made, as well as a description of your linens and centerpieces, and send it to you by the end of next week. That way you can check to make sure everything is as you want it and you can make any changes if you want to. Other than that you're ready to go and we'll see you at your wedding."

"Ok, thank you Tara," Booth said, standing up. They all shook hands and Booth and Brennan returned to their car.

"Can we never do this again?" Brennan asked, clearly mentally exhausted.

"Hey, after this, we'll never have to get married again. And when the kids grow up they can do this part on their own," Booth assured her.

"Thank you. If you manage to follow through with all that, I'll put it in the 'Yes, you actually saved me' column."

"Thanks, Bones," he replied with a smirk.

* * *

**Another A/N: Ok, so, of course, let me know what you think. Also, it's probably going to be Sunday before I post again. Tomorrow is my birthday and I have been told not to come into work so instead I'm going to veg out in front of the TV all day and not do any thinking at all and after writing this chapter (after which I was as mentally exhausted as Booth and Brennan) I'm gonna need some time to recover, so hopefully Sunday.**

**Also, no pics this time of anything I mentioned above. The menu was all stuff I got from the written menu that CBBC actually has on their site, the cakes I made up from what various bakers offer, and the centerpieces I made up by taking different aspects of random centerpiece photos on the web.**


	8. One Last Hoorah

**A/N: Ok, I'm a total nitwit. I completely forgot about writing a new chapter for this, even though I promised one a week ago. And then I remembered to write one when I got another review for it. So I wrote it while I was at the beach this weekend (since it rained all weekend) and then I forgot to post it when I got back to the land of internet access. So here it finally is, the bachelor and bachelorette parties. And as always, I own nothing.**

**Thank you so much to csimesser1, mustanggirlz07, crazycamera, gilmoregirls3916 and for the wonderful reviews. Thank thank you for the birthday wishes. I think you were the only person that didn't "remind" me that I'm old for my birthday this year.**

**Now without further ado...**

* * *

It was finally late May and all the wedding planning had been done. As had the planning for the rehearsal dinner and the honeymoon. Booth and Brennan thought they were done. Now they just needed to show up. Angela and Hodgins apparently had other ideas. Booth and Brennan had told their friends that they didn't want Bachelor and Bachelorette parties as they were already living together and had four children. They had clearly left the bachelor lifestyle behind several years earlier.

Yet, here the couple sat, at the diner, across from Angela and Hodgins, with Angela telling them in no uncertain terms that they _were_ going to do something to symbolize the end of their bachelorhood.

"We are, Angela, it's called a wedding," Brennan told her friend.

"I know that, sweetie, but you need one last hoorah before you settle down into a life of marital bliss," Angela tried again.

"I'm pretty sure that my last hoorah happened about nine months before Chris was born. Since I don't really remember it due to the amount of alcohol I had ingested I'm pretty sure it counts as a 'hoorah.'"

Angela rolled her eyes, "It doesn't count if you can't remember it."

Booth raised an eyebrow. "I thought the only purpose of a bachelor or bachelorette party was to not remember it."

"Well, we didn't plan traditional parties," Hodgins finally spoke.

"What did you plan?" Brennan questioned suspiciously. She knew that this could be very good or very bad, but knowing her friends, probably not much in between.

"Well, sweetie, for you I planned a nice day at the spa. We'll get all the girls together and get facials and manicures and pedicures and massages so that we'll be nice and relaxed before your wedding day. Then in the evening, we're going to do a tour of a vineyard and have a wine tasting."

"And, Booth, for you we decided on a round of golf at this really nice country club I belong to in Maryland. Then we're gonna go out to the stadium and watch the Phillies beat the Nats."

"See, nothing too scary or wild," Angela finished.

Booth and Brennan looked at each other for a moment. It was obvious that their friends knew them well. The parties they had planned weren't traditional parties and were tailored to what each of them would like specifically. They nodded slightly at one another before turning back to the other couple.

"When will these events be taking place?" Brennan asked, "And who have you invited?"

Angela responded first. "They're both going to be the Saturday before the wedding, June 16. The Phillies are in town playing the Nats that weekend, so it really worked out. And I've invited Booth's mom, Cam, Amy, Becca and of course Dani and Chris. I hope it was ok that I invited Rebecca. I know you two get along really well now, but…"

"It's fine," Booth and Brennan said at the same time.

"What are we going to do with the girls when we're at the wine tasting? We can't serve them alcohol or anything," Brennan wondered.

"Don't worry about it," Angela assured her. "The vineyard we're going to actually puts out grape juices as well, so they have grape juice the girls can taste."

"Ange, that's a great idea. Thanks."

"I thought you might like that, sweetie," Angela replied with a smile.

Hodgins decided now was a good time to confirm the bachelor party guest list with Booth, before the women got even more involved in their conversation. "Dude, I've invited Jared, Max, Russ, Parker, Wendell and Sweets, so far. I wasn't sure if there were any army buddies you'd like to invite. We really already have two fours, but we can invite more if you want. The Club will just have to deal with it."

"Thanks man. I wouldn't mind inviting Hank to the ball game. He's in a wheelchair from an army injury, so he really doesn't play golf."

"Ok, man, just give me the address and I'll send out the invite."

* * *

The day of the parties, Booth and Brennan woke up fairly early for a Saturday morning, at about 7:30. Booth and the men had tee times at 9:30 am and 9:45 am and the golf course was at least a half hour drive away. Factor in renting clubs for Parker and renting golf carts and all the other things involved in getting ready to play golf and they were going to have to be efficient this morning.

Brennan and the girls had to drive an hour to the resort where they would spend the day at the spa and vineyard. Luckily their earliest appointment was at 10:30, so they had plenty of time to get ready, meet up and get there.

Just before the family was about to walk out the door, Booth grabbed Brennan's arm and pulled her back into their bedroom.

"You know I love you, right?" Booth asked.

"Of course," Brennan replied with some confusion.

"And you love me right?"

"Yes," she answered in shock. She was marrying him, how could he think she would doubt his love and not love him in return.

"Good. Remember that. If you have some hot masseuse named Sven, I don't want you running away with him," he said with a smirk.

Brennan rolled her eyes, even as she relaxed. "Why would I run away with a masseuse named Sven who probably has nothing to provide other than good looks and nice hands, when I can come home to a man who has all that and more?"

Booth smiled and kissed her softly. "Good, let's go."

* * *

Booth and the men played a full eighteen holes, although only Max, Hodgins and Booth managed to stay anywhere near par. Hodgins came in first with the lowest score, only three over par, with Booth only 2 shots behind him and Max four shots behind. The rest, weren't even trying to compete by the end. They just wanted to get through the 18 holes alive. And maybe not losing any more golf balls to the woods lining the course. Since Booth, Max and Hodgins had more experience they made up one foursome with Parker rounding it out so that they could teach him to play as they went. Wendell, Sweets, Russ and Jared made the other foursome and they all felt they could have used the lessons that Parker was given.

When they got to the stadium, most of the men prepared to climb the multiple levels of stairs to the nosebleed section, but Hodgins stopped them.

"Sorry to disappoint gentlemen, but we won't have the honor of climbing the stairs today. We happen to be seated in the first row, just past third base."

There was a bit of hooting and hollering before they settled down and actually went to their seats.

It was a beautiful day out for baseball. Not too hot and just a few puffy white clouds in the sky. The men got beers—except for Parker, who despite some serious begging was only able to get a soda out of his father—hot dogs and nachos. After the Nationals beat the Phillies—which was a miracle based on their previous lackluster performance—the men trooped out to the main terrace, bought some Nationals gear—for no reason other than a rare, post-win high—then left in various directions to their respective cars and Metro stations.

* * *

While the men were having a day dedicated to various sports, the women were enjoying being pampered. When they first arrived at the spa, they were given plush bathrobes to change into in the locker room. The women were going to have massages and facials first, then manicures and pedicures later. The spa even had specialized facials for young girls so that Dani and Chris could have facials designed specifically for them.

For the first part of the day the women were split into two groups—one would get massages first while the other got facials, then they would switch. Anne—Booth's mother, Amy, Becca and Chris were in one group, while Brennan, Angela, Cam and Dani were in the other group. It had taken several hours for Angela to decide who should be in which group—especially considering Amy really only knew Brennan, Chris and Dani, Anne knew Cam and Becca but didn't particularly like either of them as they were both ex-girlfriends of her son, the two youngest needed to be around people they knew well and would behave for—which mean their mother, Angela, Anne or Amy. It was like one of those logic puzzles—and Angela never particularly liked those. She finally settled on these groups, because even though Amy didn't really know Anne or Becca they would probably get along, there were two adults in each group that Dani and Chris would listen to and they were separated so they could gang up on the adults, and Becca and Anne while still not close were at least civil for Parker's sake whereas Cam and Anne typically would either ignore each other completely or argue non-stop.

Anne, Becca, Amy and Chris went to have facials done first, while Cam, Angela, Brennan and Dani went to get massages and after an hour the groups switched. After each group had their massages and facials, they all met in the lounge area for lunch. The adults were given garden salads while the girls were given peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. The adults remained fairly quiet, still relaxing after their treatments. Chris and Dani, however, gushed about how cool everything was.

"Mom, this was so much fun. We have to do this again," Chris announced to Brennan.

"Yeah, mommy, I loved it. You and daddy should get married more often," Dani said. She was at the age where she was old enough to understand that they were all at the spa because her mother and father were getting married, but still too young to understand that getting married was not a prerequisite for going to the spa.

Brennan turned to Angela with a look that said, _See what you've done now, you've created monsters!_ before turning back to her daughters. "Maybe we can do this for other special occasions, like birthdays."

The girls started cheering, before Brennan added a stern "Maybe."

The ladies all stayed together for the manicures and pedicures and were able to have "quality girl talk" as Angela put it. Chris and Dani chose Flamingo Pink for their nails while the adults all chose to get French manicures. After they gave enough time for their nails to dry, they all returned to the locker room and got dressed in their own clothes again, before being led to several golf carts outside the spa that would take them across the property to the vineyard.

When they arrived at the vineyard's main building, they were led to a room that was off the main dining room and overlooked the rolling hills of the vineyard. They all sat around a table and were brought small food courses with a wine (or grape juice in the case of the girls) specifically paired to that course. By the end of the evening they had tried a Merlot, a Cabernet, a White Zinfandel, a Sauvignon Blanc and a Chardonnay. When they were done with dinner, they all climbed into the limo that Angela had rented and were dropped off at their respective homes.

* * *

**A/N: So, there's not much dialogue, which I'm not so sure about, but I think it works. As always let me know what you think!**


End file.
